On Wednesday the red flag was raised on the Perelló beach (Valencia) due to microbiological contamination. In mid-July, El Puig was forced to prohibit bathing on four of its beaches after a grainy white substance appeared that the sea had expelled towards the coast. Further south, Cala del Carlotti in Santa Pola and Playa de las Villas in Pilar de la Horadada were closed to bathing due to residual water spills. So far this summer (and there is part of August and September left) there have already been 18 episodes of temporary beach closures due to the poor state of their waters (not counting issues derived from strong waves, swells or the presence of jellyfish).
According to the data provided to La Vanguardia by the Ministry of the Environment, Water, Infrastructures and Territory, the figures exceed the closures of the last three years and are comparable to those of 2019, although there are still days of vacation ahead. The most affected province is by far that of Alicante, where there have been up to 14 closures, compared to the three in Valencia and the only case in Castellón.
However, from the Ministry they explain that “the values ??oscillate around less than twenty episodes on a coastline as wide” as that of the Valencian Community. Thus, the same sources indicate, “it cannot be deduced that there is a clear upward trend, since the results are influenced by specific cases.”
Along these lines, they underline that “purification systems are getting better and more advanced and the controls are getting more and more exhaustive.” The Ministry of the Environment takes weekly samples in the 229 maritime bathing areas, that is, more frequently than required by European regulations. The samples are carried out from Monday to Thursday in all the sampling points (260).
And what happens when any anomaly, discharge or suspicion of it is detected?
In the case of microbiological contamination, they count from the Ministry, this can also have very different origins (accidental or premeditated hydrocarbon spills, relief from urban networks, especially after heavy rains, pipe breaks…) and the solution in each case would be therefore different.
The microbiological contamination detected, in the case of coming from an urban wastewater discharge, is usually solved quite quickly, fixing the fault and diverting the discharged water to treatment. “The self-purification power of seawater itself eliminates this type of contamination in a few hours, since the indicators that are analyzed have little survival in salt water,” the technicians comment.
It is true that, on occasions, it is difficult to detect the clear origin of the contamination, as happens when it reaches the sea through a natural channel (ravine) or a ditch that covers a large area of ??different municipalities. In these cases, it is up to the municipalities, due to their powers and knowledge of their own sewage and stormwater networks), to detect the possible source of contamination and solve the incident.
If the closure of the beach is due to other “non-natural” causes, such as hydrocarbon spills, there is an established protocol to Fight Marine Pollution coordinated by the Maritime Captaincies, dependent on the Central Government.
